Michigan Football: Are Wolverines headed for the Rose, Fiesta or Peach?
Michigan football will find out this Sunday what bowl game it will be playing in, but for now, we can speculate and lay out some scenarios.
It’s hard not to feel disappointed this week as a Michigan football fan. After all, the Wolverines were supposed to be getting ready for the Big Ten Championship game and now, well, they are just waiting for their bowl destination.
While the season is not going to end with a Big Ten title or a trip to the College Football Playoff, the Wolverines did win 10 games and are positioned to play in a New Year’s Six Bowl as the nation’s top two-loss team.
The question is, which bowl game will the Wolverines end up playing in?
Of course, the preferred choice is always going to be the Rose Bowl. For Michigan football fans and every Big Ten fan, that means something more than the rest. A Rose Bowl victory wouldn’t wipe away the sting from the Ohio State loss, but it would certainly help.
It would also be the Wolverines first Rose Bowl win since 1997, so it’d be hard to say the season wasn’t a success. However, in order for Michigan to reach the Rose Bowl, Ohio State needs to reach the College Football Playoff.
That could happen simply by the Buckeyes beating Northwestern, however, a loss by Oklahoma might also be required. If that doesn’t happen, then Michigan will be looking at either the Peach Bowl or the Fiesta Bowl.
The Rose Bowl will have the Pac-12 and either Michigan or the Big Ten champ. Likewise, the Sugar Bowl will have the highest-ranked non-playoff team against the highest-ranked team left from the Big 12, which will be either Texas or West Virginia if Oklahoma wins.
Michigan Wolverines
If UCF wins the American championship game and takes the Group of Five bid, the Knights could head back to the Peach Bowl or they could head to the Fiesta Bowl. If the Knights go west, Michigan will likely head to the Peach Bowl to face either Florida or LSU.
Yet, a Florida vs UCF Peach Bowl makes a lot of sense too. The Peach would need to take UCF for the second straight year, but I doubt the Knights will care what bowl game as long as its the NY6 and with it being close by to both UCF and Florida, it seems like a good draw.
That could send Michigan football to the Fiesta Bowl and if the Wolverines got the chance to square off against LSU, that would be a good thing. The Wolverines and Tigers have never met in football and with all the Les Miles stuff, plus the fact each team owns a dominant defense, it seems like a fun matchup.
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Beyond that, It seems safe to say that Michigan fans don’t want to see the Wolverines take on Florida for the third time but regardless of the opponent, getting an 11th win and the first major bowl victory since 2011 is a must to keep this season from feeling like a failure.